77-B: Misdirection
by RareNyte
Summary: *Follows end of Hope:Arc, DR2 Spoilers!* They seemed like family. Now revived and sailing off into a new future, they were free to act for the sake of hope. However the 77th Class are once again faced with a traitorous act as they find one of them has set them on a course for destruction. Reluctantly, Hajime must lead the investigation... and uncover one of his closest friends.
1. Not Like Before

**Here's something new, hope it's interesting. Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

In one week, the course was changed, it's time to play detective again.

 **Bridge 08:00 AM**

"Can I really do this...?" Hajime wondered as he fingered the wheel tentatively, rapping his fingers over the circular instrument as he frowned. He looked up and focused upon the horizon past the glass. He saw a vast expanse of light blue sea beneath a deep lilac sky. It was seemingly endless, and that much more intimidating.

"Hm? Do what, Hajime?" came a soft and inquisitive tone from beside him. Turning round, he saw the empty yet intellectual gaze of the young man upon him. His corpse like appearance contrasting his innocent sounding tone, that belonging to the **Super High School Level Lucky Student- Nagito Komaeda.**

"I'm just wondering if I can pilot this ship properly. It's a pretty important role, if I do it wrong..." Hajime uttered as his grip on the wheel tightened, feeling the weight of the vessel as the hum of the engine entered his ears.

"Well, you've tried it before haven't you? You did well enough then." Nagito asked him curiously. True enough, but he wasn't the only one. Kazuichi had wanted to try it out the minute he laid eyes on it. Gundham wanted to know if his soul was 'adapted to synthesize with the cold heart of machinery' yet, and Ibuki tried to make it fly... with mixed results.

With his new talents, it was deemed that Hajime was best to pilot it, and part of him saw that as the best choice, the other wasn't entirely sure.  
"Well enough, yeah. But if we hit a storm or come across something unexpected along the way I might not be able to steer us into safety." Hajime studied the looming clouds above and held a difficult expression.

"In that case, I'm sure you'll find a way. You are the Super High School Level Hope after all!" Nagito assured him, leaning back against one of the control panels inside the bridge room.

"I suppose I am called that now, haha. It's kind of odd after finding out I was just a Reserve Course student. You also reacted pretty negatively to it, back then." Hajime recalled lightly, remembering Nagito's sudden change in conduct toward him when he'd discovered that.

"Ah right, I remember." Nagito scratched his cheek bashfully. "Well, that's because all that wonder as to what magnificent talent you had was hit with such a dull conclusion. It's fine now though!" Nagito finished on a happy note but Hajime remembered how dismissive he'd become before.

"You sure you don't want to try piloting it?" Hajime changed the subject, as he often did whenever times of the killing game were inadvertently brought up in casual conversation. Nagito raised his hands up and shook his head with a smile.

"Oh if I was the captain we'd probably crash into an iceberg then sink to the bottom of the ocean... where we'd find Atlantis." Nagito seemed lost in his own musing as Hajime cracked a smile. That actually sounded half feasible if it was Nagito they were talking about. His luck did take that yin-yang form.

"Hahh, well, how's it working?" came a casual tone from the door as a rough looking young man with shining sharp teeth in vibrant clothing entered the room. The **Super High School Level Mechanic- Kazuichi Soda.**

"It's running well, I think. I feel like I know how to pilot it, for the most part anyway." Hajime told him with a wry half smile. He was privy to the vast expanse of talents that Izuru Kamakura was but getting to grips with the more complex ones was sometimes a struggle.

"Of course it would! This is my specialty, you know? There isn't anyone better at it than me!" Kazuichi boasted with sparkles in his eyes, truthfully he had done well with the old ship, it hadn't been in the best shape when they recovered it from the Future Foundation members who'd been attacking them.

"That would hold more weight if most of your competition weren't either insane or dead. Still, you did a great job." Nagito commended him in a backhand manner, Kazuichi and Hajime exchanging a grimace at his use of what they sincerely hoped was black humour.

"Anyway, I set the course to the eastern coast of Japan. It will be good for us to get some supplies if we can and we can also check the situation there. If it's overrun by Junko's worshipers then we'll have to move carefully." Hajime informed Kazuichi, who nodded simply as Nagito stared out the window.

Hajime wondered what would happen when they encountered those sorts of people. Apparently they had revered the sixteen of them as embodiements of her will and were respected as authority and people of importance. It was odd to imagine any conception of order or hierarchy among the wild masses but even they held their idols, he supposed.

They'd have to wait and see.

* * *

 **One Week Later**

Galley 12:30 PM

"Hey now! You can't possibly expect that to be enough carbohydrates!" the **Super High School Level Impostor** , currently in his 'Byakuya Togami' guise, barked at the sweating dwarfish man as the **Super High School Level Chef- Teruteru Hamamura** , happily threw another load of meat into the pan without concern for his critic's thoughts.

"Non! This is the perfect dish for such an event as this! Nothing better than my own piping hot man meat. Allons-y!" Teruteru yipped in glee as he dished out another plate, building up to a stack of dozens as on the kitchen table across from them two hungry souls laid.

"Come onnn! MEEEAATT! HANAMURAA!" The tanned girl in the revealing school uniform growled for the umpteenth time as she banged her fists down upon the table, ready for the eating competition. With her metabolism at a staggering rate due to her position as the **Super High School Level Gymnast- Akane Owari** was ready to down about twenty of Teruteru's dishes.

Across from her, the Impostor waited impatiently, reluctantly holding his tongue as soon as he realized ordering the manic chef around was more trouble then it was worth. Either way, he was going to win this. This was a point of pride for himself as a survivalist. A skinny, frail looking young man chimed in awkwardly from the sidelines.

"Is it really okay for us to waste so much food?" the **Super High School Level Animator- Ryota Mitarai** asked as Teruteru pointed a ladle in his direction.

"Tranquille! The thinner Togami from back then said it would only take around a week to reach the eastern coast. It's fine!" he assured with a leisurely tone.

"It will also be good for medical supplies as I fear Mikan will be requiring a re-stock after today." the Impostor noted with an anguished tone as Ryota tilted his head in confusion. To answer his budding question, a crash could be heard from the room next door.

"What is going on in there?!" Ryota asked panickedly as he heard several grunts and battle cries sounded through the metallic walls. The Impostor waved off his concerns with an idle hand as a plate was placed in front of him.

"Forget them, if they wish to act foolish then it is their duty as fools to do so, whereas the more mature kind such as you and I must- _CURSE YOU, VILE CHEAT!"_ The Impostor yelled as he saw Akane already onto her third plate as she carried on without the knowledge of her apparent competitor.

* * *

 **Recreation Room 12:31 PM**

"This is probably gonna end badly." Fuyuhiko lamented with a sigh as he winced from watching the constant clashing of the titans in combat. The sound of wood striking a mass of hardened flesh as the vibrations shook throughout the hull.

"Gahahaha! That hurt a lot! But you will need to put more effort in if you want to take me down!" the gargantuan wall of muscle jeered as the **Super High School Level Coach- Nekomaru Nidai** leaped backwards into a defensive stance. Across from him, Peko Pekoyama lifted her bamboo sword with both hands and glared harshly.

"I will not lose." she stated as she brought the sword to her front center and leveled her shoulders. Such was the intensity of the **Super High School Level Swordswoman- Peko Pekoyama.** With another thrust of her weapon, the altercation continued.

"Maybe I shouldn't have put the suggestion into her head that Nekomaru would make a better bodyguard than her." Nagito wondered aloud, earning a look of alarm and unease from Fuyuhiko as the swordswoman's fierce devotion to the fight suddenly made sense.

"That explains why she's taking it so seriously then." The **Super High School Level Yakuza- Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu** uttered with regret as the two fighters locked in a spectacular bout of roughhousing that looked frighteningly deadly from a spectator's point of view. It didn't help that Nekomaru could potentially rip a hole in the side of the ship if they weren't careful.

"Awawa! Nekomaru, you're injured again. Please let me bandage that wound!" Mikan squeaked from the side as she held up her red cross medical kit. The coach in question looked at her oddly before checking his forehead and bringing it to his face before bursting out in sudden, raucous laughter.

"Bahaha! You're tougher than you look, little lady!" he expressed in merriment as the **Super High School Level Nurse- Mikan Tsumiki** attempted to get her patient to stay still so she could treat him. Her supplies were also on the decrease but it was the general opinion on the ship that they'd be re stocking soon anyhow.

"Damn it, Peko. You don't have to worry about stupid things like being worthy to be my bodyguard. _You don't have to do stuff like this_..." Fuyuhiko muttered the last part with a slight blush as he brought Peko over, who smiled warmly down at him before agreeing with a nod.

"Ahaha, now if only I could convince Hajime to join me in sparring. I want to face the full brunt of his new abilities to the max!" Nekomaru yelled with a fist in the air as Mikan tried to keep him from making the wound worse.

"Hm, yeah, I haven't actually seen him fight yet." Fuyuhiko mused, looking to Peko who shook her head to indicate she hadn't either. When they had taken on the brainwashed Future Foundation their leader had gone off on his own to track down Ryota after their awakening.

When Hajime had first told the rest of them about his personality merging with that of Izuru Kamakura's. By comparison, it didn't rank too highly among other revelations at the time so it was received rather rationally. Well, Ibuki, Nekomaru and Akane didn't understand and Gundham simply accused Hajime of stealing his aesthetic.

"Oh he is truly amazing, but he's far too busy with his super secret project that you guys don't know about." Nagito announced cheerily from the side as all eyes turned toward him. He looked at them all innocently before tilting his head to the side.

"Hm.. maybe I wasn't supposed to mention it." he wondered before he faced an onslaught of questioning from all present.

* * *

 **Storeroom 12:30 PM**

"I wonder if I can pick up a game or two on the mainland..." Hajime wondered as he pressed the power button on the console. There was an electrical whirring before the screen attached to the wall sprung to life with an electric blue hue and the bright letters _'Nantendo Station CN'_ appeared.

After gathering together several pieces of machinery and relying upon his talents of mechanical know how and programming skill, he had managed to construct this basic gaming console. Picking up the controller he fiddled with the buttons and triggers and saw the console's interface respond appropriately.

"Looks like it works okay." Hajime remarked as he scrolled through its basic functions. Originally it had just been a thought of her, the thing she loved the most and the thing she was best at. He also remembered her saying how it'd be fun if everyone could play together.

 **Chiaki Nanami- Super High School Level Gamer.** The thought of her was a melancholy one but he'd sooner be damned than forget her. She was, in his opinion, fully responsible for his survival. Her constant support and belief in him, it was a ray of light that shone through the deepest despair he'd found himself in.

When he was about to potentially risk his life in the Final Dead Room, she was there for him. Come to think of it, she was always there. Maybe he just didn't notice or appreciate her enough, that's what he supposed. She was that kind of warmth you didn't realize was there until it was gone.

Thinking of her brought great pain when memories of her voluntarily falling to the sadistic punishment for which she had committed no crime, and of how she asked him to prove her guilt to the others. It made his heart clench in his chest and a ringing pain sound throughout his mind. She had sacrificed herself for them all.

Even if she was an AI, she was still fully real to him. He knew that in the original class, which he hadn't been a part of, there was a real girl who was the gamer girl he knew. He had only been informed of her by asking Nagito about what he had learned whilst in the killing game and even then he-

" _Gah!_ " Hajime felt a surging pain on one side of his head and gripped it with a strained facial expression as he dropped the controller he was holding and staggered back into a metallic wall.

Sudden images of a girl looking exactly like the one he'd just been thinking of, covered in blood and crawling pathetically on the floor beneath him, reaching for him. His breathing grew heavier and the pain grew tenfold as soon as he recognized her.

"C-Chiaki?!" Hajime barely got out as he imagined her body slowing to a stop and the life fading from her eyes. He felt his heart pounding against his rib cage and a sweat beginning to run down his face as he fell to his knees. Only then did the figment of a tall, well endowed blonde girl with a wild look in her eyes appear several steps away from him.

Then, around him, students. Students that he didn't recognize but felt like he'd definitely seen before, running at each other, howling madly. It was madness, and the figure of the wild blonde girl began to crack a smile wider and more disturbing than any he'd seen before. His blood began to burn and he was about to scream when-

"Yoooo. Hajime? I heard you freaking out and thought you were recording something sweet but uh... this seems kinda heavy..." came an upbeat and striking voice from above. Hajime instantly turned toward the source and his gaze focused upon a wild array of blue, black, white and pink belonging to an eccentric young woman with wide pink eyes looking down at him.

"...I-Ibuki...?" Hajime choked out as he recognized the energetic girl who held one hand over her eyes and the other upon her hip. Looking up at her she seemed to be studying him up and down with a curious expression and what appeared to be a hint of concern, though with a girl as eccentric as the **Super High School Level Musician- Ibuki Mioda,** it was hard to tell.

Following this, he also saw another figure in the doorway. Shorter in stature and clad in a bright orange kimono, her single ponytail draping over her shoulder as she frowned at him with a childlike expression.

"What are you screaming about all of a sudden?" she delivered in a harsh manner but Hajime could infer that there was some level of concern evident in her tone. The **Super High School Level Traditional Dancer- Hiyoko Saionji** was only ever direct with insults, never with expressions of care.

Hajime slowed his breathing and calmed himself, something he would have found much more difficult before everything, and stood himself up using the wall as support.  
"Yeah, sorry if I worried you. It's nothing really, just imagining things." Hajime raised a hand and smiled at the two of them to dispel their worry and earned crooked expressions from both.

"Ehhh, that doesn't sound likely though... unless, you're secretly harbouring a massive crush on me and your heart couldn't take me walking in?!" Ibuki exclaimed with a horror stricken face that Hajime could only let out a nervous laugh at.

"Aha.. no, it's honestly nothing. Anyway, what were the two of you up to?" Hajime asked, keen to change the subject away from himself as he looked between the two of them. The two shared a look of unease before Hiyoko turned to Hajime to fill him in.

"We are looking for Mahiru. She went off this morning and hasn't shown up since, have you seen her?" Hiyoko asked with a pout, Ibuki also sighed with a troubled expression. Hajime thought back to the day's events and realized that he hadn't spoken to the red headed girl today either.

"Sorry, I haven't seen her. Did she have anything to do today?" Hajime questioned, recalling instances of Gundham asking her to take shots of his birds that he wanted to catalog the growth of the hatchlings with or Nekomaru wanting her to take some action shots of his sparring sessions or Teruteru... getting slapped for what he asked her.

"No. She just went off on her own. She was meant to help me try on my other kimono today..." Hiyoko muttered as she folded her arm crossly, Hajime recalling the difficulty the dancer had with changing herself way back when she only came up to no higher than his waist.

"Ooh is it time for Ibuki to play the detective? Though I'm sure she's fine! But that may be a death flag and there hasn't even been a prologue yet! Tragedy!" Ibuki cried out dramatically as Hiyoko rolled her eyes, Hajime letting out a genuine chuckle. These two arriving definitely helped him settle down, he was glad to be around such interesting and friendly people.

Though as he continued to speak with them, the memory of what he'd just seen remained in the back of his head, sending waves of unease and horror throughout him as he fought to ignore it. Yet no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't fight the feeling that everything he'd seen was, at least at one point, real.

* * *

 **Main Deck 12:35 PM**

"Okay, okay, I can see the last one didn't impress you. But look at this one, Miss Sonia!" Kazuichi held up yet another device, this time a miniature, metallic animatronic toy of Mikan that produced realistic looking tears and could spin its little arms all around when panicking and also had an 'compromising position fall' function to make it authentic.

"I call it Mini-Mecha-Mikan! See?" Kazuichi tried to garner his attention once again as he set the tiny robot down on the floor and it instantly sprung to life.  
" _bbbzzzt- *I-I'm sorry! B-but please don't hate meee! *zzzttztz*"_ the little device spoke in an electrical fritz, the proud creation of the lovestruck mechanic.

"Yes, yes, it is very impressive. However right now we must focus and be quiet. We were ordered not to disturb him!" the graceful blonde lady kneeling next to him advised him, with all the grace and eloquence of the **Super High School Level Princess- Sonia Nevermind.**

"Aghhhh, Miss Sonia~!" Kazuichi held his heart as he was dismissed so easily, picking up his mini Mikan and holding it close to his chest as they both shed a tear together. "Why do we have to watch this, anyway?" he lamented as Sonia ignored him, focusing intently on the young man sat on the deck a few metres away.

"...By the call of the winds and endless seas... my soul synthesizes with the legendary ruler of the ether! Winged beast, I call for you now, and answer my will in concordance with our eternal contract of unity! To me, TANAKA. GUNDHAM!" came the bellow of the mystically clothed young man with the wild, pointed hair and lightning bolt over his discoloured eyes.

"Does he have to scream like that?! And that is not the order of his name!" Kazuichi complained with a bewildered expression and an exasperated tone. Sonia was quick to shush him and lean in to his ear and whisper.

"Shhh! It's part of his process. Plus, you know he's sensitive about his last name sounding common!" Sonia advised him, well versed in the peculiar and extravagant personality of the **Super High School Level Breeder- Gundham Tanaka.**

"Would you two fools be silent?! You are interrupting!" Gundham barked at the two of them in a low tone, they both looked to him in alarm before he returned his ear to the bird of prey upon his bandaged arm that had flown over whilst they were talking.

They looked on in confusion as the bird made several squawks and shakes of its wings that, whilst unintelligible to the mechanic or princess, made the breeder nod in understanding and react to with expressions of intrigue and shock as the two shared an incomprehensible exchange.

"What-?! Is that the sacred gospel?!" Gundham asked in disbelief as he stared with wide eyes at his feathered informant. A few squawks from the bird confirmed what is had apparently just told him and he looked down in utter horror.

"Uh... Gundham? What'd it say?" Kazuichi asked, slightly spooked by Gundham's sudden change in attitude. Sonia, too, looked troubled as they made their way over to their unnaturally despondent fanatic friend and love rival. Gundham turned round slowly and faced them.

"My agent tells me... that we aren't destined for the course of the homeland's eastern boundary..." Gundham barely got out as Kazuichi eyed him in puzzlement, the cryptic language not serving any assistance with his understanding. Sonia, however-

"We aren't on course for east Japan?!" Sonia exclaimed with a hand over her mouth. Kazuichi initially shot to her in surprise but then the reality of what she said sunk in and a feeling of dread panged within him. He looked to Gundham who shook his head solemnly.

"No. In actuality, we are travelling a path that results in a complete estrangement!" Gundham declared with a dark tone as Kazuichi once again looked to the princess for a translation as she gasped incredulously.

"It's leading us into the middle of nowhere?!" she spoke, her skin turning paler. A silence ensued between them as Gundham nodded. The hum of the engine and sound of the water gushing against the sides of the ship occupied the deck.

Kazuichi couldn't believe his ears, just yesterday Hajime had made the announcement that they would soon be docking and to prepare themselves. Why, then, were they now on course to be stranded?! Wasn't this- like- really bad?!

"Do not panic!" Sonia commanded in her regal pose, thrusting one arm forward and holding her head high. "We must proceed with rationality and caution. For now, let's gather everyone together!" Sonia finished as Kazuichi shook his head and decided just to take this one step at a time.

"Agreed. Should we split up and gather them?" he suggested, Sonia about to respond to him before Gundham raised his hand and silenced them.

"I shall handle this." he told them before turning away and taking a few steps aside before clearing his throat. Sonia and Kazuichi shared a curious look before Gundham lifted up his arm and all at once four little, furry creatures appeared, standing to attention.

"My four Dark Devas of Destruction! Go and do my bidding, fetch the other infernal fools and gather them here on top the deck! We shall convene and root out the scourge that set us on the trail toward doom!" he commanded them as they instantly leaped off and scattered off in different directions.

"Deity's velocity." Gundham delivered coolly as Sonia went starry eyed, Kazuichi's fears not sated as he smacked his hand against his forehead.

* * *

 **Main Deck, 01:00 P.M**

"So uh, a bird told you all that?" Akane surmised, receiving a stoic nod in response as she represented the general view of all present. They had all gathered on the deck and the ship's engine had come to a standstill.

"That falcon is a trusted agent under my absolute rule. She is willing to face the world eater itself if it is to honour me. She speaks the truth." Gunham assured them, or at least tried to as the rest of them all looked unconvinced.

"You're saying that this ship is actually not headed toward the eastern coast at all, instead it's going... nowhere?" Hajime asked, struggling to piece together Gundham's gibberish, even with Sonia's translations. Gundham nodded grimly before surging in energy and pointing at Hajime.

"Now, tell us, why have you directed us so?!" Gundham accused, and even with the way he said it, Hajime knew he was being blamed. Before he could reply, however, Nagito spoke up with his hands waving in front of him.

"Now, now, let's not jump to pointing fingers at friends just yet. This is probably all just a mistake, isn't that right, Hajime?" Nagito turned to Hajime who, even though he was being defended, still felt a tinge of unease from the way Nagito casually took over the conversation.

"Yeah. I set the course a week ago and have been regulating it whilst checking the navigation, everything suggested we were headed in the right direction." Hajime explained truthfully. With his talents, he was able to gauge from the various monitors what the general status of the travel and nothing had seemed awry.

"We shouldn't doubt Hajime over what a bird said, don't you think that's ridiculous?" Peko spoke up, confident in his abilities. From her side, Fuyuhiko nodded in agreement. The ramblings of the Chuunibyou animal nut weren't held with such a high prestige.

"Are you implying that my aviary agent would deceive me? Do you wish a curse of a thousand suns upon yourself?" Gundham spat in their direction, obviously agitated and on edge and if his words were to be believed then that was fully understandable.

"Let's not jump to conclusions either way. We should first confirm that the ship is going the wrong way." Nagito tried to temper the situation but before anyone else could speak up another voice spoke up from outside the circle.

"You don't have to." came a voice none of them had heard that day as they turned to see a young woman with short, bobbed red hair and a camera slung around her neck. It was the **Super High School Level Photographer- Mahiru Koizumi.** In her hands she held what looked like a circular device. Hajime recognized it from somewhere.

"Ooh, where have you been? Taking photos of yourself whilst you hid from us? Sometimes I like to hide from everyone and see what they do when I'm not watching. Can Ibuki see your photos?" Ibuki asked as a she impatiently went to talk to her but she was passed by another young woman stomping quickly.

"And just where have you been all day?! You broke your promise!" Hiyoko scolded her with a deep frown as Mahiru didn't even meet her eye, instead passing her and walking straight over to Hajime and handing him the device.

"Here. Take a look at this." Mahiru passed it to him and it suddenly became clear. He just hadn't expected to see it detached. It was the navigation monitor from the bridge.

"Mahiru... this is-?" Hajime asked in surprise, turning it over and finding that it wasn't connected to a snapped lead or anything to suggest it had been forcibly removed. He looked up to Mahiru for an explanation but she wouldn't look him in the eye.

"It's a fake. It replaced the real one but I couldn't find it." Mahiru told him, shaking her head in shame. Hajime looked at her incredulously as Kazuichi stepped forward pointing an accusatory finger.

"Oi,oi! Does that mean _you_ got us lost!" The mechanic yelled, eyes wide and tone spiking. Mahiru's expression darkened but she didn't say anything as Fuyuhiko took his own step forward.

"Hey, don't go pointing your finger at her, jackass! Just let her speak." Fuyuhiko shut him down sternly, earning a look of surprise from Mahiru who seemed genuinely affected by her former adversary sticking up for her. Seeing this, she intervened.

"It wasn't me. I found it when I went in there today." Mahiru told them all, looking down at the floor. Looks of instant suspicion passed around the group before Hajime felt a very familiar and very harrowing feeling. The suspicion. When all eyes turned upon a guilty looking person and doubt begins to rear its ugly head.

He hated the feeling. It was directly associated with the things that would follow, reveals of betrayal, impressions of people being perverted and twisted, turning against your friends. He didn't want them to go down this path again.

"Mahiru. Please. Just tell us what you are talking about, nothing bad has happened yet and nothing bad has to happen. It's okay." Hajime told her gently, taking a step towards her. He didn't want anyone to cast suspicion over her, or for her to incite it.

"I-" Mahiru started but her throat seized up and she could say no more. The rest on the deck had difficult expressions upon their faces, with a sigh, Hajime spoke up.

"Okay, guys. Let's not make any assumptions right now, we'll try and get the ship back on course. If this was intentional, all it did was set us on the wrong course. We have enough supplies, we'll be fine. The only thing this did was put us in danger of wasting some of our time. So we don't need to treat this-"

* _Squaaahhh!_ *

A sudden animal call from above interrupted the young man and everyone looked up to see a falcon descend down and land upon Gundham's outstretched arm, leaning into his ear and beginning to squawk.

"Well at least if we run out of food we can rely on Gundham to call the food to us!" Akane announced happily, contrasting the previous dark mood as everyone else waited to hear what the breeder said next. Gundham went pale, which was a testament because of his usual skin tone, and he looked straight at Mahiru.

"...Do you intend to end us all?" Gundham spoke in all seriousness as a sudden chill ran across the entire group. Even Fuyuhiko didn't challenge him as the shock of hearing the usually eccentric yet dark character say such a thing. Hajime eyed him carefully and even Mahiru was taken off guard.

"She traveled further and found another source of calamity. Beyond our visible horizons and along this path... is a hyper cannon that would obliterate us all if we cross its path!" He delivered in his typical overdramatic fashion, but for some reason it struck serious chords within them all. Only Sonia made a sudden gasp.

"O-Oh my... You're saying that in our current path... we would run into the path of a turret?!" She spoke in utmost horror as everyone around was immediately alarmed. Eyes all turned to Mahiru who held two hands in front of her mouth, beginning to tremble.

"Ooh, I remember hearing about those from the thinner Byakuya we rescued. He warned us of turrets set up on an ocean base that would take out unrecognized ships after it fell faulty following abandonment. That would certainly be a bad thing to come across." Nagito mused in his famous 'thinker' pose.

"N-N-No! How could... why?! We're friends! Why?! I- I can't!" Mahiru whimpered as she fell to her knees. No one knew how to react until Ibuki of all people came to her senses and rushed to Mahiru's side, kneeling beside her and holding her by the arm, seemingly checking if she was okay.

"So, if that place is hiding a massive automatic turret, then we'd all get torn to pieces before we knew what was happening?!" Kazuichi spoke in fear as he rose a trembling hand to his chin and the others began to look between one another.

"That is perfectly correct, you insolent fool!" Gundham told him and murmurs began to break out amongst the others, Mahiru still murmuring to herself on the floor. Hajime saw it all and he didn't like it. He wasn't going to let this happen again.

"Everyone! We can't start doubting each other, not again, not like before! I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for all this. We just have to find out what it is." Hajime tried to settle the atmosphere but it had little effect. The shock of the news of the turret and Mahiru's current state allowed no relief.

There was a long silence, the only sounds made being Mahiru shaking and Ibuki trying to carefully speak to her as there grew an unease. Peko took a defensive stance in front of Fuyuhiko. Even Nekomaru and Akane looked anxious. The air was suffocating. In that time, Mahiru got into a sitting position with her knees up and Ibuki left her side.

The silence ensued for an excruciating period of time before an unexpected person broke it.

"Well then why don't we settle those fears by finding out who really did it!" Came the simple suggestion of Nagito Komaeda who had raised his hand like an elementary school student. Eyes turned to him in an instant and Hajime crooked an eyebrow.

"...You... don't think it's Mahiru?" Hajime uttered, surprised that Nagito would have faith in her, though in reality he'd sooner suspect that he was simply intelligent enough that he'd already reasoned that it can't have been her. How he would have was beyond Hajime, however.

"Huh? Of course I don't, you don't think so either, do you?" Nagito asked simply, as if he was genuinely confused as to why Hajime would think such a thing. Shaking his head, Hajime felt it was better just to go with the flow with him.

"...No. I don't." he admitted, and it was the truth. Sending them into the path of a turret? It just... couldn't be her. Though he had a suspicion Nagito's reasoning didn't have quite so much of a sentimental basis.

"Then let's get started. Who has the ability to manipulate the navigation? And don't worry, we aren't suspecting anyone, we are just getting some things straight." Nagito asked Hajime though for a certain reason he didn't quite buy that Nagito wasn't suspecting anyone. Turning around, he selected a few.

"Well... Kazuichi would be an obvious choice, seeing as he helped tinkering with it..." Hajime reasoned, receiving a flustered denial from the beanie clad man. "Gundham has had dealings with mechanical work in the past..." the breeder didn't show any signs of a response. "And... you and I." he finished.

Hajime couldn't leave himself out, he had an innumerable amount of abilities and every opportunity to do it and Nagito was... well Nagito was Nagito.

"Good! Though, I'll say this now; I didn't do it. Did you, Hajime?" Nagito expressed casually, causing Hajime to fall over his words a tad.  
"O-Of course I didn't! I would never do such a-" he begun but Nagito rose two hands and stopped him.

"It's okay Hajime. I don't actually doubt you. You are the Super High School Hope! To go against you would be..." Nagito trailed off but somehow that was far more unnerving than anything he could potentially have gone on to say.

"Well- Hajime is the only one who was around it enough and had the know-how! It's clearly him we should be interrogating!" Kazuichi claimed, bringing up bad memories of times back in the killing game as he was once again doubted by a young man he would like to call his friend.

"That isn't true. Nagito has his super luck, right? He could messed with it at random and it would have directed us anywhere he wanted!" Fuyuhiko spoke up in defense of Hajime, the temper in his tone shutting the mechanic up.

"Oh... That's certainly true. Good thinking! The talents that we all possess have that fantastic tendency to defy all logic and reason, to not consider them would be... well, suicidal." Nagito delivered that final word with a serious, harrowing tone, and the truth of it rang within all of our hearts.

"Well then, let's talk about who we can trust the least." Nagito announced, receiving an expected glare from Hajime before Nagito looked at him quizically.  
"I assumed that was a better way of saying who can we doubt the most, isn't it?" he asked innocently as Hajime sighed. He'd forgotten how Nagito could be.

"We know what the rest of us are all like... with the exception of- oh wait, of four of us. Now, Hajime, why did I just say that?" he asked as Hajime was suddenly put on the spot.

Of course, Nagito loved this game. Saying something suggestive then stepping back and letting everyone else reason it out. With his arms behind his back and a shut eyes grin, Nagito confirmed he was done talking and was now waiting for Hajime's response.

"Well... there's the Super High School Level Impostor for one..." Hajime first addressed the figurative and arguably literal elephant in the room and directed the attention toward the rather more obese portrait of Byakuya Togami. His talent was devoted to concealing his identity after all.

"Hmph. You accuse me, do you? Unfortunately for you, this type of crime is not interesting or beneficial enough for one such as the Affluent Progeny that is I. Re-think everything." the Impostor demanded, still fully within character, as expected. Having now met the real deal, this impersonation was all the more impressive.

"Gahh! I thought you had purple eyes and used a katana, now you've changed back! Stop messing with Ibuki's fragile mind!" Ibuki clutched at her head as she struggled to understand the entity that was the Impostor.

"It's true that we don't know much about him but..." Fuyuhiko began, trailing off with a contemplative frown. He was clearly troubled by the accusation. They'd all seen how far the Impostor was willing to go to protect them from disaster right from the offset of the killing game.

"Remember, I'm just translating Nagito here. I believe that he is a very kind and heroic person, I don't think he would do anything against the rest of us." Hajime cleared up as the Impostor looked to him with a curious expression for a second before abruptly averting his eyes.

"And only those who made it past the first two trials know about what Mikan... what Mikan became." Hajime spoke carefully as eyes turned to the nurse. She instantly stiffened with a gasp and hid her eyes with her hands. She received sympathetic looks from Akane and Peko but the rest of them bore different expressions.

Hajime had hesitated when waking up Mikan. Even if her... episode... was a result of the Despair Disease, all it did was restore her memory of before, and there wasn't anything suggesting that she wouldn't be the same when they woke her up. Thankfully, she seemed to be back to her old, persecution complex self when she popped out of the pod.

They had all expected Hiyoko to react much more negatively than she did. Maybe it was because Hiyoko didn't remember much from the event, maybe it was because she just wanted everyone back alive, but she didn't treat Mikan any differently than before.

Sure, she still hailed her with an endless onslaught of insults but for Hiyoko that was far tamer than what they would have expected with what Mikan did to her. It was the one of the only examples of pure, meditated murder over the course of the killing game.

"I-I'm so sorry! I honestly don't remember anything about it! Please don't hate me!" Mikan was now sobbing into her hands, but that wasn't regarded as much of a special event as Sonia laid a supportive hand upon her shoulder, shushing her babbling.

"Geez, it's in the past. Stop snorting about it, she-pig." Hiyoko delivered as scathingly as usual but there was an odd comfort to be found in the regular verbal assault that indicated that things were fine between the two of them.

The disease _had_ affected her memories. So it wasn't that much of a stretch to suggest that when the disease wore off, her memories would return to how they were before. If they were to believe that she had no memory of it, then she could be met with less suspicion. Hajime shook his head, he had to believe in her.

"The third would be... me. Or, strictly speaking, half of me. None of you met me when I was fully Izuru Kamakura." Hajime closed his eyes and pointed toward himself. It was a fact, the only thing they knew of the personality behind his other eye was that he was instrumental in creating the biggest, most awful, most tragic event in human history.

Izuru Kamakura. The Super High School Level Hope. Hajime didn't remember why he'd been chosen as the subject of the experiment, however he'd gotten well acquainted with the other side of his personality. Rather, his second personality that had meshed with his own.

It was an odd thing to get his head around, another personality implanted into him. Luckily, whilst the experiment had focused on his abilities, the personality wasn't too overpowering. Mostly his Izuru side was logical, calculating and stoic. He wasn't an idiot, at least he could guess that from his success in the trials, and his original goodwill made up for the cold alter ego.

Overall it had helped more than anything else. He was able to bring back all the others with the ability and the mentality helped when he was dealing with fierce opponents as the leader of the "Remnants of Despair" that actually worked for hope.

"It's okay, we all believe that you are still the same Hajime within! Feel at ease!" Sonia encouraged him dramatically with her hands upon her hips. Though the royal delivery may seem a tad condescending, the sentiment it carried was clear still.

"GAHHH! Now you're two people, too!" Ibuki whined as her knees buckled from the mental turmoil she was going through.

"Thanks, Sonia." Hajime spoke as the princess nodded happily. Sometimes her straightforward ways of thinking and tendency to boldly declare really helped to clear up situations and lighten the mood. Ibuki on the other hand...

"Erm, Ibuki. It's like... a keytar. Both a guitar and a keyboard together in one musical instrument." Hajime explained, worrying if his own attempt to speak Ibuki's language would just confuse her even more but she suddenly changed demeanor.

"Ah! Got it!" she spoke with a confident smile and hands upon her hips, understanding the whole thing perfectly now. Hajime rose an eyebrow at her but decided to not prod the topic further and decided to move on.

"Fourth would have to be... Ryota. We've spent the least time with him." the boy in question went eyes wide at his mention as the group shifted focus over to him. This was a simple one, but it didn't make it any less regrettable to shed doubt upon a new friend.

"Hey! You think trust can be measured in days or weeks? Such a simpleton. We can't doubt Mitarai based upon such unreasonable conjecture." The Impostor spoke up in protest, taking a step in front of Ryota defensively with a scowl. Hajime flinched, he was being made out to be the bad guy.

"I'm just clarifying what Nagito implied. I don't doubt any of you guys and I'm glad Ryota joined us, I still think this must have been a mistake. But for the sake of appeasing a certain someone..." Hajime turned to Nagito who had remained silent whilst absorbing all of his deductions.

"Finally, you were going to say Chiaki, but you stopped because it can't possibly have been her." Hajime finished, it still stung to mention her but he knew Nagito wasn't going to let the conversation proceed until they cleared this hurdle. Nagito clapped his hands together.

"Well reasoned!" he praised as Hajime let out a sigh, hoping that now they could move on to discussing the actual issue and try and figure out whether or not anyone would have a reason to alter the-

"And also, wrong!" Nagito interrupted happily.

"What-?! But... that makes sense, doesn't it?" Hajime asked, puzzled, feeling like he'd failed Nagito's test. His deductions were pretty solid up until that point, at least that was what he thought but-

"Actually, I was going to say Peko. Considering those that went out in the first round didn't know she was affiliated with Fuyuhiko, and that's a pretty defining part of her character. She was happily prepared to let us all die for his sake, after all." Nagito finished with a smile.

Peko went stone still and did not meet anyone's gaze.

The unspoken policy between them was that they did not bring up regrettable parts of that time. It didn't help anyone. Many things happened during the killing game and many moral questions could be asked. So far they had gotten along fine, blinded by the joy of getting everyone back alive, but the past remained always.

Teruteru had killed the Impostor, albeit unintentionally. Peko had killed Mahiru and attempted to get herself and the rest of us all killed so Fuyuhiko could survive. Mikan had gone insane and killed Hiyoko and Ibuki. Gundham and Nekomaru were the only pair who fought on equal terms. And Nagito...? Well...

Nagito had endlessly mislead them, played them like marionettes, set up murder, taken the whole island hostage under a terrorism threat, and faked his own murder in order to kill the rest of them for the sake of his "hope".

They could make the excuse that they were put in the game and that it was all Junko's fault and that it was all a simulation. Or that it worked out for the best. But still... it didn't change what they had knowingly done to one another in there.

"This isn't like before, where we all seemed a happy class of innocent teenagers. Now there are confirmed murderers and malicious masterminds amongst us. Honestly, I don't know how you'd trust anyone around you!" Nagito laughed lightly as an ill fitting contrast to what he was saying.

We all tried to ignore the horrors behind us, but Nagito seized it and dragged it before our eyes as a brutal reminder.

We weren't innocent kids. We were murderers, even without factoring in the time we spent as Ultimate Despairs, we were in no way free of blood upon our skin. We had the experience and the knowledge, any one of us could. Now we had to figure out why.

"Hey now, you bastard. Before you go speaking about Peko how about we all address the most obvious culprit here!" Fuyuhiko spoke up angrily as he faced toward Nagito, taking an offensive stance.

"Oh, you must be referring to me. Well, I can see why, I am just trash compared to the rest of you." Nagito looked down with a half lidded expression and pressed two fingers to his forehead but his tone didn't sound upset at the accusation. More like he was expecting the finger pointed his way.

"Damn right! You tried to get us all killed on the final trial yourself, and out of all of us you are the only one who would pull this kind of shit for no other reason than to amuse himself." Fuyuhiko continued, beginning to step forward but stopped when Nagito suddenly looked back up at him.

" _Wrong."_ Fuyuhiko was stopped in his tracks at the bluntness and unsettling edge to Nagito's tone. The young man in the green coat fixed Fuyuhiko with a straight, dead expression with wide eyes that sent chills down the spine of all present.

"Oops- sorry to be curt. But you must know by now that my one and only aim is to ensure hope trumps all! If my actions seem to be against you, they are only hurdles for you to overcome and come out with a stronger hope as a result. I believe I've made that clear by now, no?" he finished with a smile but the threat to challenge his claim was clear.

"My actions in the final case were due to you all turning out to be the Remnants of Despair. It's only natural that I'd want to erase your existences entirely, isn't it? Sure Hajime got in the way of it, but I feel like it worked out for the best. Now we work under the face of despair for the ultimate betterment of hope, why would I want to ruin that?" Nagito asked with raised hands, as if it was a ridiculous notion.

"To test if we still believe in hope, try and expose any despair left within us, or maybe just to kill one of us so the rest can overcome the grief. There's any number of bullshit reasons your twisted mind could come up with for doing it!" Fuyuhiko spat at the taller boy and honestly, it was hard to argue with him.

"Oh, actually those would be good reasons. However, I think it's time for me to make a statement. *Ah-hem*. I believe that the current situation will conclude in the most hope. I don't have any reason to kill all of you." Nagito returned with a tone that brightly contrasted what he was saying.

"Uh, that doesn't make me feel any safer..." Akane complained with a frown as she crossed her arms across her chest, the rest of them sharing a similar sentiment as they looked between each other with uncertain expressions.

"You can't expect us to believe you after you just doubted the rest of us!" The Impostor scolded with his fierce blue eyes almost attacking the young man. Nagito merely laughed nervously at him without saying anything in return.

"Yeah, honestly sometimes it seems like you're actually all for despair." Fuyuhiko scorned as a side comment but Nagito jerked toward him as soon as he had said it, a wild expression replacing his jovial indifference. He stared directly at Fuyuhiko and began to walk toward him.

"..." Nagito didn't say a word as he approached, his arms drooped lifelessly in an unsettling, lifeless stumble. Fuyuhiko looked at him oddly but the most dramatic reaction was understandably from Peko Pekoyama whose hand was immediately upon her shinai and a predatory expression upon her face.

In an instant the swordswoman had leaped forward, Nagito's eyes tracking her as she closed in on him. The others didn't have any time to react as it looked like the two were about to clash. Just as they were about to collide, however-

"Stop it, you two." came a commanding tone as the imposing figure of Hajime Hinata appeared between them, one hand blocking the shinai and the other stopping Nagito from advancing closer.

"Oh, I wasn't actually going to do anything! But thanks for defending someone like me, Hajime!" Nagito thanked with his cheerful grin and chirpy tone, the previous disposition having dissipated instantly as he returned to his creepy, smiling temperament.

Ignoring him, Hajime sighed and turned toward Peko who was still glaring at Nagito.  
"I get why you're angry but please calm down, Nagito is Nagito. Don't let it get to you." Hajime told them with a tone more befitting his original personality as the swordswoman took a breath to calm herself down and nodded slowly.

"I'm sorry. Thank you." she expressed as she re-took her position beside Fuyuhiko, the youthful yakuza quietly telling her off and assuring her he would have been absolutely fine. Hajime looked round at the group and decided to speak.

"Okay. There's one thing I want to make clear. This isn't like before. We are not putting anyone on trial, I'm sure this is just a mistake. And if someone did do it, they will not be treated like before. We'll talk things out, is that understood?" he addressed them all, having gotten used to this position of leader that he'd assumed lately.

"Hn! We are no longer confined to the commandments of the despicable two shaded bear. Our limiters have been removed and we can ignore the dark compulsions and instead find a lighter solution. Though, that is slightly regrettable for my shadowed self." Gundham... agreed?

"It's regrettable?!" Kazuichi expressed in similar confusion as Hajime looked round to gauge the others' impressions. There was a hint of unease, courtesy of Nagito, but overall they looked pretty calm. This could be solved simply. It didn't have to be like before.

 _No!_

Hajime clenched his fist tightly and looked straight ahead. In the reflection of a window he saw a young man standing resolute, his signature ahoge standing tall and his discoloured eyed of red and green staring straight back at him. He was the **Super High Scool Level Hope-** **Hajime Hinata.**

 _It won't be like before!_

* * *

 **A new act of treason, but who is the culprit? What does Mahiru know? Is it all the work of the mini, mechanical Mikan? Probably not. Hope this was an interesting read. Please Review if you have any thoughts and fav/follow if you liked it. The support helps a lot :)**

 **Thanks for reading.**


	2. Investigation START!

**Bridge, 03:10 PM**

"It's been forced, then." Hajime remarked as he looked over the console, peering inside the circular hole that held a collection of frayed wires that seemingly had ended up like that after having what they were connected to torn away.

"It doesn't seem like the original is here, well, they'd probably throw it over the side of the ship. Unlike before, disposing of evidence is a simple matter." Nagito deduced from behind him. Hajime nodded, still not liking the connection to 'before' but it wasn't like it was untrue.

"Kazuichi, what can you say about the replacement?" Hajime asked the sharp toothed young man who was studying over the device meticulously. He kept his eyes glued to it and turned it over once or twice before scratching the back of his head and turning back to Hajime.

"Well uh, while the original displayed information provided from the scanners that fed it through the wires but this one isn't connected to anything and just displays whatever is programmed into it." Kazuichi explained slowly, eyeing Hajime carefully as he did so.

"What is it?" Hajime asked, noticing the mechanic's averting gaze and already guessing what was about to come out of Kazuichi's mouth.  
"Well... ya know. The culprit is someone who knows how to build this kind of thing _and_ can program it with specific naval stuff. It's pretty obvious who this is all pointing toward." he claimed.

Hajime took a deep sigh and felt a tinge of annoyance with Kazuichi as he opened his eyes and gave Kazuichi a stern, severe look.  
"Kazuichi, you accusing me is getting repetitive. Think about it, I may have every talent known to Hope's Peak but does that mean I'm the only one who can do these things?" Hajime asked, receiving a blank look in response.

"Nekomaru, for example, is a great fighter but he isn't the Super High School Level Fighter. And our Byakuya isn't the Super High School Level Dietitian but he is exceptionally knowledgeable about the effects of food. Even if they don't have the title they can still be talented in a field. Can't you understand that?" he told Kazuichi forcibly.

"S-Still, you're the most suspicious one by far! You've been around the console every day." Kazuichi retorted, getting a little heated as he pointed a finger towards Hajime. Hajime's second personality taking particular exception to that.

"If that's the case then why would I set the fake navigation console? To trick myself?" Hajime argued back, his logical side getting slightly angered now as he took a step toward Kazuichi. The mechanic was admittedly taken back by that logic as he struggled to respond but, as was his normal way-

"Actually, Hajime. You could have done that to use for your defense." Nagito chimed in, cornering Hajime out of the blue. Seeing Hajime's frown, Nagito smiled "Come on, Hajime, refute my accusation and prove your innocence." he assured sickeningly.

Of course, this was a challenge. This was Nagito's way. There was no way around dealing with him so he just had to face it directly.

"I couldn't have prepared that fake because if my intention was to fool everyone, there wouldn't be any frayed wires. I have Kazuichi's talent as well and was around when he worked on everything. I'd be able to remove the wires seamlessly." Hajime countered, hoping it was enough to sate the luckster's curiosity.

"Hmmm..." Nagito placed a finger against his chin and wondered for a few seconds before smiling widely "Okay. Despite the fact you could also have predicted that line of questioning, but I'll accept your answer for now!" he announced happily though Hajime wasn't satisfied.

"You already said you don't think it was me. Why are you continuing to test me?" he asked, eyebrow crooked. Even if he didn't want to go through this investigation, he just wanted it over with and that wasn't going to happen quickly with Nagito's constant accusations.

"Is that a joke?" Nagito's expression went blank with confusion, his seemingly innocent ignorance merely causing Hajime's eyes to narrow suspiciously as the luckster went on.

"You are the Super High School Level Hope, the ultimate talent! You are destined to pave the way for hope, how could I not feel the urge to test you and allow you to shine?" Nagito asked with genuine mirth as he grinned expectantly. Hajime glared his way, it was sometimes easy to forget how Nagito really was.

"Anyway, aren't we done here?" the luckster finished, taking strides to exit the room with Kazuichi following afterwards. Hajime was going to follow but stopped himself when his eye caught on something.

"I guess I'll check what Miss Sonia is- whoa- hey!" Kazuichi let out as his arm was suddenly restrained, turning round to Hajime he saw the leader's eyes directly fixed upon one point of the counter.

"Kazuichi, do you see that?" Hajime asked, directing his attention toward an odd mark on the corner of the counter. Kazuichi narrowed his eyes and looked closer, seeing what appeared to be a scuff, a sign of a grazing upon the corner. It was as if something had hit and scraped past it.

"It's a scrape or something, yeah, but is that important?" Kazuichi asked, Hajime seemed pensive. He hadn't noticed it before so it may have just been there from the beginning but what kind of impact would only hit the corner of the counter?

"What are you doing, Hajime? You know having more than one person confirm evidence means nothing anymore, right?" Nagito asked from down the steps from the bridge room. Hajime and Kazuichi both turned to the luckster with confused expressions.

"You called over Kazuichi because of an established process you're used to but- oh, don't you realize it?" Nagito continued with a definite sense in his tone that he was looking down upon the both of them.

As much as Hajime resented allowing himself to be played along in Nagito's mind games, he knew that Nagito was much smarter than he looked and in situations such as these it was a necessary burden listening to him. If only he was straightforward, he'd be a massive help.

"What do you mean? Naturally it's better to have more than one witness to it so it's more reliable." Hajime argued with one eye shut, his red, logical eye shining through but Nagito crooked his head to the side.

"Oh- well, if you don't understand then I won't say anything. I'll let you figure it out for yourself!" Nagito announced with a smile and wave, causing Hajime to glare in his direction. Though, this wasn't like before, Hajime closed his eye and began to think.

Nagito called issue with him bringing over Kazuichi to make his claim of seeing a piece of potential evidence. Nagito acted like this was abnormal. Why did Hajime do it? It was because it was common practice during the killing game? Why was it? Because if someone made up evidence, it served an accomplice no benefit to back it up as they would die if the case went awry.

What was different here? Hajime opened his eyes, having made the startling realization.

"It's useless to have someone back it up because accomplices could very well be used with this incident. There isn't an obligatory trial or single one 'blackened' system that would only allow for one victor." Hajime explained, causing Nagito to turn back around to them.

"Oh, well, as expected, I suppose. How wonderful! Yes, exactly that. Whilst we should continue like before, some of the integral rules have changed." Nagito surmised proudly with a smile. Hajime, however, wasn't as amused.

"Regardless, more than one person supporting a piece of evidence makes it more convincing in an argument-"

"And regardless of that, you could have fabricated that scrape any time in the last week. Either way, it's a risk in an investigation that will lead to convicting a culprit." Nagito fired back, his composure remaining light and almost mocking.

"We don't need to and can't know for sure. We just need to figure out why it happened, it could all be an accident. And in case you've forgotten, there's one major difference between this and what we've done before." Hajime stated, walking towards the stairs and looking down upon Nagito.

"Difference? What difference?" Nagito spoke confrontationally, taking several steps up and came almost face to face with Hajime.

"Because even if there is a culprit, we won't be killing them." Hajime stated absolutely, almost challenging Nagito to protest against that but Nagito's smile merely widened slightly before he came even closer, a breath's distance separating himself and Hajime.

"I wonder if that's the best decision." Nagito expressed simply and as soon as he had enclosed their distance, he turned around and headed down the metal steps ahead of him. Hajime stood there for a moment, watching the mysterious luckster go. He wondered if Nagito would again lead them into anarchy.

* * *

 **Medical Bay, 03:20 PM**

"How is she doing?" Hajime asked, walking into the white and red decorated room. They'd had help from some of the Future Foundation to renovate one of the storage rooms into a fully functioning medical bay.

There, laying upon the clean white bedsheets, her face contorting in discomfort and small gasps audible from her mouth, was Mahiru. And aside her, sitting upon a chair with a difficult expression was Hiyoko. She turned toward Hajime as he entered and frowned.

"She's fine." she spoke curtly, turning back to the unconscious photographer with a small scowl. "She disappeared for a day then comes back and scares us all by bringing out some fake device that got us stranded and then doesn't explain anything!".

"She's been unconscious the whole time, then?" Hajime asked, the lack of an answer being everything he needed. He could, of course, infer from Hiyoko's attitude that she was angry with Mahiru but that didn't change the fact that Hiyoko had been staying by her side the whole time.

"Y-yes. It's troubling but her condition is stable at least!" spoke the timid voice of Mikan who made herself visible out from behind an infirmary curtain, carrying a freshly damp towel. "I'm just going to do my best to try and keep her comfortable." she announced chirpily as she passed Hajime and lent over the sleeping Mahiru.

Hajime smiled at the nurse as she carefully tended to her work. Anxious and complex-suffering as she usually was, seeing the young woman in her element really was a striking and wholly pleasant contrast. It was as if left her own self doubt aside as she deftly removed Mahiru's old towel without disturbing her.

"Oyah, oyah? Is everyone hanging out in here?" came the energetic curiosity only traceable to Ibuki as she rounded the corner, peering in with one hand over her eyes and her mouth forming an 'o'. Hajime was the only one to release a smile at her entrance, Hiyoko shaking her head and Mikan barely registering it.

"Hey, Ibuki. Mahiru's fine, we're just being careful at the minute. Though, if you don't mind, I wanted to ask you something."

"The ship suddenly changing course, do you think it's possible that you heard any signs of it at any point. Engines changing their whir, the winds blowing differently, anything like that?" Hajime asked, conscious of the girl's aptitude for hearing, befitting the Ultimate Musician. Even subtleties such as the ocean's ambiance would likely be noted by her talented ears.

"Hmmm... hold on... I can feel it commminggg!" Ibuki strained herself and put on a very pained expression as she put all her effort into recalling this memory, Hajime watching her intently before she finally turned back to him with a casual smile. "Nope! I can't remember anything like that at all." she concluded.

"Hahh..." Hajime sighed, feeling like his time had been wasted. "Okay, no problem. I suppose I'll try investigating elsewhere." Hajime then turned to bid Mahiru a final look, Ibuki also peering over past him as Mikan went in to check her pulse. Her fingers gently touching the unconscious girl's neck.

"-!" Ibuki's eyes grew slightly, unnaturally as Hajime turned back to her. She seemed to have been stricken by something, she stared dead ahead at the girls and she began to reverberate noticeably, her upper lip twitching rather manically as her hands rose up to her own neck. "H... how...?" she stuttered.

"Ibuki, are you okay?" Hajime asked as he moved towards his friend who had begun breathing heavily and started to walk backwards, hitting her back against the wall as her fingers began scratching at her own neck. Seeing her beginning to break the skin he immediately acted.

"Hey, hey, Ibuki, _Ibuki!"_ Hajime spoke in alarm as he ran up to the musician and took her by the wrists, stopping her from hurting herself further. She continued to struggle in his grip as he fought to make eye contact with her. His instincts were telling him the best way to hold her to force her to look at him but right now he wasn't thinking at all like that.

"How... can you trust her?!" she screamed through gritted teeth, her facial expression hidden. A silence followed, she stopped writhing. Hajime turned back around and saw Mikan looking utterly horrified, stuttering quietly as she stood, unaware of what to do with herself. Hiyoko had a startled glare that was aimed directly at the musician.

"I'm... I'm sorry..." Ibuki spoke beneath her breath after a long silence. Her eyes hidden from view. Hajime kept hold of her but made sure to do it gently as, slowly, she spoke again. "It's... just... Mahiru... I don't want her to be right... Ibuki doesn't want there to be a traitor..." she sniffled near the end as Hajime closed his eyes in understanding.

"No one does. But even if someone did switch the radars, we can't say for sure what they were trying to do. Hey, maybe someone accidentally broke it and wanted to replace it so they didn't get caught. Maybe it's something as silly as that." Hajime told her, wanting to cheer her up somewhat. He heard a murmured chuckle.

"Maybe, maybe that could happen. Yep!" Ibuki lifted up her head and flashed a bright smile, tears still in the corners of her eyes. "Hajime is right, one hundred percent. Ibuki has no worries!" she announced confidently, but Hajime could see she was still a bit shaken up.

"Now! Commander, give your orders! What would you like me to check?" Ibuki stood in a salute, subtly shaking off Hajime's hands as she stood tall. She leaned over with an expectant expression and a newfound shimmer in her eyes as Hajime rose an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" he asked, not having expected any suggestion of the sort from Ibuki. She'd jokingly called him that before but wasn't ever one to ask to be bossed around, by him or anyone else.

"Well you're still investigating, right? You can't do it all on your own, right? Also, if that creepy zombie guy suspects you, you need people other than yourself to back up your evidence, right?" Ibuki explained with a finger in the air, Hajime guessed that she meant Nagito by that.

"I.. suppose that's true.." Hajime looked to the side, thinking on Nagito's claims about how more than one person validating a claim was pointless but surely if enough people were of the same mind, it's not likely for half the group or more to be traitors. With this, he nodded.

"Okay, why don't you try asking those who frequent the recreation room for a start?" Hajime told her. "Anything out of the ordinary. Anything of note. It's not a live or die scenario like back then, though, so don't worry if you can't gather anything substantial." he instructed as Ibuki nodded along with her arms crossed, semi serious.

"Okay-okay. Will do, commander!" she saluted once more before spinning round one hundred eighty degrees and leaving the scene. Hajime watched her go, wondering if she was truly okay before giving a nod back to Mikan who smiled back, still confused but having calmed down enough to get back to it. Hiyoko's expression didn't change.

* * *

 **Main Deck, 03:30 PM**

"There is no way of knowing exactly when the course changed unless we can specify how far we have veered from our intended path." Gundham mused, rapping his fingers against the railings across the outside of the ship, looking out towards the oceans with a stern, focused expression, trying to gather any visual hints.

"What, can't you ask your birds?" Kazuichi asked, his arms folded a step away from the other young man, impatient at having been dragged around by Gundham under the pretence of commencing their own important investigations. Of course his displeasure at the vague musings and endless inquiry was entirely contrasted by her.

"Mm! I agree! We simply cannot discern when the ship was turned to head us in a dangerous path." Sonia affirmed with a thoughtful expression, absorbing every word from Gundham without any filter, seemingly completely at ease with leaving the leadership in his hands. Gundham nodded before casting his eyes down to the sea.

"The original radar has been discarded to the waves, so that is not useful to us either. Thus, we should focus our efforts on casting light on the nature of the execution. The grim details of the culprit's actions. This should help dramatically in their identity's discovery." he spoke before turning round to the both of them in a swift motion, the ends of his coat flapping dramatically as he did so.

"So the radar was changed, that means it's just figuring out who could have made the switch?" Kazuichi asked with a troubled expression, still working on his efficiency with translating Gundham's needlessly confusing choices in speech. Gundham shook his head solemnly and looked between the two of them.

"On the contrary, it obscures it further. There are two ways my mind can conjure that would result in this peril. One, manipulate the navigation so the pilot themself unknowingly plunges the group into oblivion, or two, to change the navigation as well as the ship's course, the navigation making it seem the same as before." he gesticulated with his hands to indicate the potential realities.

"If they had gone with the first option, it would rely on Hajime to notice the change in navigation and alter the vessel's course. If they had gone with the second option, he shouldn't have had to do anything at all. I wonder which one the culprit took, if there is one?" Sonia looked to the side. "Kazuichi? Can you think of a device that could have messed with the navigation without being near the bridge?"

"O-Oo I can! Absolutely, Miss Sonia! At once, it's, um.." Kazuichi began with bright, star shaped eyes but his expression fell as soon as he realised he hadn't actually thought of an example and rested his chin upon his fist. "If they had something that could mess with the magnetic forces, maybe. No idea where they'd get one, though."

"We can hold that presumption in reserve until we find any indication of such a device aboard our vessel." Gundham interjected, clearly eager to get on with a realistic assessment of their situation. "If we act under the assumption that manipulation can be done either way, it's the question of whether the wheel was moved to match."

"Uh, well... I guess it must have been, Hajime woulda found it weird if the ship suddenly had to be adjusted, wouldn't he?" Kazuichi supposed, his hands upon his hip.  
"Although, if they chose the second option, wouldn't they have had to sneak past Hajime to change the wheel?" came Sonia's return with a thoughtful frown, Gundham shutting his eyes for a few moments to think.

"That is so, and with a list of abilities as extensive as his, I cannot think it would be any easy feat. Leaving of course when he went to sleep, sealing the entrance in his wake... although a locked door shouldn't be a barrier for anyone with the utensils necessary to breach it." the breeder spoke, causing Kazuichi to scowl as he stepped up to him.

"Oi! You're obviously accusing me, there! Besides, Hajime doesn't stay in that room 24/7, remember? Anyone could have gone in during the day!" he argued with tightened fists. Sonia's eyes widened and she stepped forward out of reflex, anxious at the rising tension. Gundham's eyes shot open as they locked with the other boy's for a long few moments before he nodded.

"Hm. That is so. So this question of who could have infiltrated the bridge will not necessarily paint our perpetrator for us." he sighed, Kazuichi narrowing his eyes further but stepping away. Desperate to return some drive and positive atmosphere, Sonia put on a bright smile and positioned herself between her two friends and looked between them.

"Well, need we proceed fact by fact? Perhaps we could explore under the assumption that the switch took place at night as then would be when the culprit would be least likely to be seen. We may discover more concrete evidence later on." she presented the idea enthusiastically with two raised fists, hoping her words would land.

"Hm. If we're following along this path, we should minimize our investigation to those able to pick locks after all." Gundham put forward, placing a finger to his chin in thought as he perused through several suspects in his head. Between those who had the strength, and those who could possess the skill.

"You sure have been pointing the finger a lot." Kazuichi spoke with a frown, knowing that Gundham would inevitably interrogate him in front of Sonia, painting him as one of the suspects because of his talent and the nature of the crime. Perhaps Fuyuhiko would be first, then maybe Nagito but eventually it would fall to Kazuichi.

"Do you carry some issue with my attempts to remove the storm clouds of obscurity that threaten the souls of everyone on board?" Gundham targeted an agitated glare towards the beanie clad youth who was just further aggravated by the way he was being spoken to.

"To hell with that! The culprit's probably someone other than us, we aren't on that island anymore you know! It could have been set before we got this ship!" Kazuichi argued, thinking of all those agents working for the Future Foundation that could have interfered with the ship somehow. They'd just got off from decimating the foundation in battle after all.

"In what possible reality could any predict which ship we would take for ourselves? And if my memory hasn't been corroded, I recall your self casting dark assumptions upon your friend during our time spent in the simulation." Gundham mentioned, remembering the accusations against Hajime during their time in strawberry/grape house.

"You mean around the time you murdered Nekomaru and then nearly killed the rest of us?!" Kazuichi pointed at Gundham, getting heated as the emotions that he felt from back during his time on Jabberwock Island were rearing their ugly, vivid heads.

"Kazuichi!" Sonia scolded, shocked at the mechanic's words as she began to get angry. The two young men didn't pay her any heed, however, as Gundham fixed an unblinking flare upon Kazuichi, lifting up his scarf slightly, hiding his mouth as he spoke, a darkness more serious than any previous pretence evident in his tone.

"...I've been holding back a burning suspicion for quite some time now. Do you wish for me to remove its confines?" he threatened, Kazuichi narrowing his eyes.  
"What the hell are you talking about?" he spat back, feeling his anger surge as he was fully correct about Gundham suspecting him.

"...What I mean to refer to is the fact that there was a window of terrible opportunity present to whomever had the skill and time necessary to alter the ship's navigation systems to their malicious whim." Gundham continued, his choice of vocabulary not masking his meaning in the slightest to Kazuichi.

"...You really are saying I had something to do with it!" Kazuichi spat back, staring right back into Gundham's eyes with his own ferocity. It was just as he thought.  
"You two... stop." Sonia tried again, and again her words were lost on the two of them as a dark aura filled the air. Neither man backed down.

"The possibility exists." Gundham uttered, lowering one arm downward towards the floor, what he planned to do with it a mystery but the gesture spoke loudly.  
"Same to you! After all, you've already tried to once!" Kazuichi reached into his pocket that held a metallic wrench, gripping it tightly before-

"I command you both to be silent at once!" Sonia's shrill, commanding tone broke through to both of them as they turned in surprise to the princess that had her hand outstretched towards the two of them in her traditional authoritative stance, her steely blue eyes freezing them both on the spot.

"Now, you two are going to be friends and we are going to work together with everyone else! Or else you will both be beheaded!" she spoke with utmost conviction.  
"B-But, we don't have anything that could-" Kazuichi began to question her threat but he was immediately cut off by-

"No questions!" she told them both, her words irrefutable. "Now, let us assume the culprit acted after nightfall and broke in. To confirm this, we should go check the door for any physical signs of it. Now come on you two." Sonia demanded before beginning to walk away, Kazuichi calling weakly after her.

"B-But couldn't we also cover some more ground by splitting-?" he began but a swift turn from Sonia was all that was needed to silence him as she responded.  
"That sounds like a question." she tilted her head dangerously, making Kazuichi instantly swallow his words and zip his mouth shut. "Gundham?" she then looked over to the other teen.

"O-Of course. Let's burn forward, immediately! Don't you agree, my treasured comrade?" Gundham turned to Kazuichi with a shaken expression urging him to agree.  
"Y-Yup! Let's get to it, pal!" Kazuichi nodded vigorously as he stood by the breeder he'd just been feuding with as Sonia released a warm smile and nodded appreciatively. Friends shouldn't fall out so easily.

* * *

 **Ryota's Cabin, 04:00 PM**

Ryota sat alone, within his cabin, staring straight at the floor and doing whatever he could to ensure his mind wasn't overcome with the tremors he was feeling in his shaking legs. No matter how tightly he clutched at his trousers at the knee, tightening with the fabric in between, he couldn't help the anxiety.

The bright hope he'd felt upon coming aboard the ship with Hajime's assurance that he would live as their classmate and they would atone for what they've done as a group, had all but blown out suddenly like a candle, much quicker than he'd expected. It had been a momentary breach of the murky water, now it felt like he was being pulled back down by his ankles.

He supposed he'd seen them as this indomitable, indivisible force... to see them stretching at the seams was a horrible spectacle, and he couldn't help but feel responsible. What if whoever was behind this was doing it to try and kill him? The one that allowed for despair to take away all of their peaceful, happy lives, and the world they could have thrived within.

It would be natural, wouldn't it? For someone to want him to suffer for it... He winced as he thought of the bright image of them all walking in one by one and smiling at him, welcoming him without reservation. It had shaken him to his core and made him feel stirring within him of the possibility of hope and friendship again. And now it was in jeopardy.

 _*Knock Knock*_

Ryota looked up in alarm, body jutting backwards as the sound rang out from the metallic door. His mind moved faster than his heart, thinking of the impending threat that could be just behind that door. Thoughts of one of the Ultimates having come to exact their back up plan.

He thought of all of them and deduced that any one of them could be capable of taking him out, even Saionji if she was angered enough. Looking around, for something, anything, he grabbed the first metallic item and held it up defensively towards the door, trying to fight the shaking in his hands, steeling his own nerve as he watched... and waited.

 _"Uh? Is he not gonna open? Should I kick it in?"_ came a familiar, casual tone as Ryota blinked in confusion, releasing the breath that he'd been holding. He moved to open the door, confident at least that the mastermind would probably not be Akane, choose Akane as an enforcer, and if they would, allow her to speak so openly.

 _"Absolutely not. You should try not to be so foolish at such times."_ came a stern, arrogant tone that instantly filled Ryota with assurance. As he laid his hand upon the metal handle and opened up the door, he smiled weakly at the visitors that comprised of Akane, 'Byakuya' and surprisingly Teruteru as well.

"Uh, h-hi, everyone. Is there something you need?" he greeted meekly, stepping outside to speak with them and closing the door behind as the Impostor sighed.  
"What about you, Ryota? Shutting yourself off from everyone suddenly, it does no favours. We all have to be vigilant at times like this." he scolded, folding his bulky arms over each other.

"I'm... sorry. I just, I wanted some time to myself." Ryota spoke, fidgeting uncomfortably, the Impostor's working striking true as he cast his eyes down to his feet.  
"Yo! It's all good, we were just worried about ya is all!" Akane spoke, giving him a punch to the shoulder that he guessed wasn't meant to hurt as much as it did as he winced with a nervous chuckle.

"Oui, if you were feeling hungry then we thought we might bring you to the kitchens to fix you up something that will make you and your little Ryota so excited you might burst- _G'owww!"_ Teruteru stopped when a fist nonchalantly collided with the side of his face, Akane not having needed to turn to strike him at a moment's notice.

"Mm, I'd devised that tactic to try and discourage that kind of frivolous talk, especially in times of crisis. Job well done, Akane." the Impostor commended with a nod as Akane merely smiled widely in response, Teruteru massaging his battered cheek with a sore expression as Ryota looked between them with a polite smile but shook his head.

"Well I'm, I'm fine. Really, just, well, a lot on my mind is all." he waved off their concerns, trying to sound like he wasn't too troubled by it despite the creases in his trousers and beads of sweat upon his forehead telling an entirely different story. "Th-thanks for checking up on me, but I think I might just want to be on my own for a bit."

"Hmm? Well, uh, okay, if you're fine." Akane placed her hands upon her hips with an unremarkable expression, however the Impostor didn't seem at all swayed.  
"Are you sure about that? It's impossible to withstand our foe if we don't do it together. You understand that, don't you?" he asked with a stern look within his borrowed eyes.

"Y-Yeah... I'll come out soon and come get some carbohydrates and protein, like you'd want. I just, I want to collect myself a bit. I want to be composed and not make decisions or judgements based on stress, like before?" Ryota returned, the Impostor immediately understanding, noting Ryota's previous impulses that nearly spread his hope brainwashing across the world.

"Mm, all right then. I understand, but don't tarry too long. This is a time of tension, people may start to suspect things." the Impostor advised with a pointed finger.  
"Oh yes, a young man in his room for hours upon end. All the things they'll think you could be up to like tugging- _Gabhwhaaaa!"_ once again Teruteru was cut off by Akane who retracted a steaming fist with a grin.

"T-Thank you. I'll talk to you guys later then." Ryota nodded thankfully towards the three of them as they acknowledged it, before stepping back inside his room. The Impostor stared after him, wondering just how much his friend was carrying beneath the surface as Teruteru and Akane bickered comically whilst leaving. He lingered a while before deciding, too, to give Ryota his space.

Back inside, Ryota released his breath, leaning back against the closed door and staring vacantly up at the ceiling. His nerves had settled somewhat but the feeling of impending disaster struck just as loudly along with his pumping heartbeat. However he knew now, that the best option for his own safety and sanity, was to ensure he was surrounded by good friends he trusted... He wished he could say that meant everybody.

 _*Knock Knock*_

"Hm?" Ryota was broken from his musings as the sounds vibrated out upon the door he rested against. He'd thought they'd all already left, though perhaps the Impostor held back to talk privately. Without much thought he put his hand upon the handle once more and stepped out. "Did you forget-" his words caught in his throat.

"Hm? Did I forget something?" Nagito asked, staring at him with an innocent, befuddled expression. "Hmm, well, I can't say that I have... but knowing me I probably have just forgotten a lot of things and then forgot that I forgot them!" he spoke in a light tone as he raised a finger to his mouth. Ryota stared back wildly as he fought for words.

"Na-Nagito. Erm, sorry, I thought- well, I didn't know it was, well, uh. Is there something you need?" Ryota stuttered out, to the uneducated eye Nagito's disposition may have seemed friendly and casual, joking around, but the hairs sticking up on the back of Ryota's neck were indicative of the chills even his mere presence brought.

"Oh now _that_ I haven't forgotten!" Nagito laughed before going into his coat pocket, seemingly fishing around for something. Ryota watched him with confusion before Nagito brought the pistol out and aimed it straight for his chest. "Would you mind stepping back inside, Ryota?" he asked politely with a sly grin.

"Na-?! What is- what are you-?!" Ryota choked out, face turning blue as the mortal peril came so unexpectedly, Nagito's eyes sharpening somewhat as he stepped closer, the cold metal touching Ryota's chest, causing the sweat beads upon his forehead to triple as Nagito took another step forward, encouraging Ryota to open the door behind him.

"I'm sorry to have to do this and make you spend more time with someone like me than you'd probably like." Nagito apologised as he ushered Ryota inside with a despairing sigh. "This really is the worst kind of situation, isn't it?" he asked before pulling the door closed behind him, it closing with a dull metallic thud.

* * *

 **Sorry for the wait on this, hope it is enjoyable and that you are interested in the mystery!**


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